Greshin

Introducing a personalized feature for students

Client

Studydrive

Expertise

Education App

Category

Ed-Tech

What is Studydrive?

Studydrive is an E-learning platform that enables students to share and download learning materials, engage with their peers through group and course discussions, as well as connecting them to job and internship opportunities.​

About the project

The project introduces virtual coins or tokens on the platform, allowing users to earn and spend them. These coins enable interaction with platform features. The main goal is to re-engage users through fun, gamification, community participation, and content creation. To achieve this, an animated avatar store concept was developed to make the user experience more personal and enjoyable. Users can use their earned coins to unlock and set avatars to their profiles. This spending feature aims to motivate users to engage more in earning coins. The avatars add personality and attitude to user profiles, creating a unique experience that aligns with future gamification plans.

What sparked this project?

The project was sparked by low engagement among Gen Z users, who found the Studydrive platform outdated and lacking interactivity. Recognizing the need for a more dynamic and personalized experience, the team introduced virtual coins and an animated avatar store. These features aim to gamify the platform, making it more engaging and fun, while also allowing users to personalize their profiles. The goal is to re-engage users by aligning the platform with Gen Z’s preferences for fun, rewards, and identity-driven interactions.

What do we want to solve?

Through this project, we aimed to solve the issue of low user engagement among Gen Z learners by making the Studydrive platform more interactive, personalized, and enjoyable, thereby encouraging consistent participation and aligning the user experience with their digital-native expectations.

What is your approach to working on a project like this? Do you follow a specific process or framework?

To work on a project like this, it’s helpful to follow a structured approach or framework. 

I started by researching and understanding the needs of expats regarding insurance. Conducting thorough user research, including surveys, interviews, and focus groups with expats to understand their insurance needs and preferences. 

Create detailed user personas and user stories to visualize interactions with our website. Plan and prioritize features based on user needs and business goals, organizing the site’s structure with a clear sitemap. Then, planned and outlined the website’s features and design, ensuring it is user-friendly and informative. 

Focus on UX design by mapping out user flows for seamless navigation and adhering to accessibility standards to make the site usable for all users

Ensure visual consistency with a cohesive color scheme, typography, and imagery that align with the brand identity. .

What did the early versions of this project look like? What did you learn from this v1?

The early versions of this project likely involved basic implementations of virtual coins and simple avatar customization options. These initial features focused on testing the concept of gamification and personalization without extensive animations or advanced interactivity.

From v1, we likely learned that while the concept of earning and spending virtual coins was engaging, the initial avatar customization options were too basic to fully capture user interest. Users may have desired more sophisticated animations, greater variety in avatars, and clearer communication about how coins could enhance their experience. This feedback would have informed the development of more detailed and visually appealing avatar options, as well as better integration of the gamification elements into the overall platform experience.


Based on the learnings from Version 1, several improvements were necessary for future versions. Enhancing the user interface with a more visually appealing and cohesive design that aligns with the brand identity was crucial. Improving navigation through a well-organized information architecture and clear user flows would make the site easier to use.

 Adding advanced features like policy comparison tools, educational resources, and customer support options would better meet user needs. Optimizing site performance for faster load times and better mobile responsiveness would improve user experience. Providing more detailed and educational content about insurance policies and expat needs would help users make informed decisions.

The Hooked Model was applied by using captivating animations as the Trigger to draw users into the Avatar store. Users were rewarded with customizable avatars based on their coin balance and took Action by spending coins to acquire them. The Investment phase kept users engaged by offering continuous opportunities for profile customization, sustaining long-term platform interaction.

What was your biggest learning or take-away from creating this project?

The biggest learning from creating this project was the importance of aligning platform features with the expectations and behaviors of the target audience, in this case, Gen Z users. We learned that personalization, interactivity, and gamification are crucial for keeping users engaged. The project highlighted that simply adding new features isn’t enough; those features need to be thoughtfully designed to resonate with users’ desires for a fun, rewarding, and identity-driven experience. This insight has reinforced the need for user-centered design in all future developments.

What was the result of this project?

The result of this project was a significant increase in user engagement on the Studydrive platform, particularly among Gen Z users. The introduction of virtual coins and the animated avatar store successfully re-energized the user experience, making it more interactive and personalized. Users became more motivated to participate in platform activities, as they could earn coins and use them to unlock avatars, which added a fun and expressive element to their profiles. Overall, the project enhanced the platform’s appeal, driving both academic and social interactions, and fostering a more active and connected community.

Which tools did you use to create this project?

For this project, we used Figma for designing and prototyping, Miro for brainstorming and ideation, Kanban Board/Confuence  and Jira  for project and task management. Slack for facilitated real-time communication.